LANGUAGE

BIGBANG Hold Press Conference for "ALIVE" Tour

The popular group BIGBANG held a press conference interview on March 2 at Seoul’s Olympic World Stadium at 5:00pm in regards to their 2012 BIG BANG ALIVE TOUR. At this interview, all five members of BIGBANG and the tour director Laurie Ann Gibson attended.

What is the meaning of “ALIVE”, the current concert theme?

Since 2009, BIGBANG would always keep in mind a “Big Show” concept for each of their performance on stage. Three years later, the “Big Show” concept is “ALIVE.”

TOP explains, “This year’s concert has a very strong story line. In some universe far away, there is a world frozen over in ice. The members wake up and break out of the ice, coming out of hibernation. Following this idea, we chose ‘ALIVE’ as our theme.”

G-Dragon adds, “In past Big Shows, we would get close to the audience and have a good time. This time around, the story line has been strongly thought out. It’ll feel like watching a musical.”

Meeting with World Star Maker Laurie Ann Gibson?

The concept for this year’s ALIVE Tour came about as a joint collaboration between BIGBANG and Laurie Ann Gibson. Laurie Ann Gibson worked with such famous stars as Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and Beyonce. She has predicted Lady Gaga‘s rise to stardom and raised many such stars.

The interviewer asked BIGBANG how they feel about working with Laurie Ann Gibson.

TOP talks about his first impression, “When seeing Laurie Ann Gibson and staff at work, I realized there are a lot we can learn from them.”

He reflects and adds, “We first met in the band practice room. We got to see the band practicing without music. Even before meeting us, they had studied our songs. They also refrained from smoking around us because they didn’t want to tempt us with it. They focused on practicing so well that they even skipped meals to do it.”

He continues, “After seeing all that, I thought to myself that that is how we should practice and behave when we go abroad for performances.”

Seungri says, “BIGBANG’s schedule is very tight. Laurie Ann would dance for us when we got tired and made a lot of effort to bring our moods up when we were down. As a producer and as a friend, she constantly showed us great passion for our joint work. It came to mind that we shouldn’t lose to her level of passion. We must show an equal and greater level.”

Laurie Ann Gibson was also full of praise for BIGBANG’s unique charm.

She praised them by saying, “I’ve worked with many superstars. But, when I first saw BIGBANG, I recognized their unique charm.”

She continues to talk about their individual charms with, “I’m impressed by each member’s level of hard work at their age. They’re the best of the best. It was easy to work with them because they are so special. G-Dragon and TOP excelled on stage. Seungri is young, but powerful. Daesung gives off the vibe of a rock-and-roll star. Taeyang reminds me of Michael Jackson.”

Laurie Ann Gibson also talked about BIGBANG’s possibility to take on the world stage.

She says, “The whole world is not yet aware of BIGBANG so I’m very excited to be working with them. I’m impressed by how they don’t complain or get upset when things get tough.”

She also revealed how she wants to bring BIGBANG to the world without changing their lyrics or their music.Just like she said, Laurie Ann Gibson is prepared to help BIGBANG take that leap onto the world stage.G-Dragon adds a significant piece of news by saying, “It’s time for BIGBANG to upgrade to the next level. While Hallyu is a great arena for Korean artists, it is now the right time for our music to go out into the world. We don’t want to lose this timing.”

He boldly dreams and adds, “We want to introduce the world to all the great Korean artists we have in the Hallyu wave. We want to be in the center of it all.”

Unconventional Move?

BIGBANG declared all six of their new songs as title tracks. Usually, a group will choose one song as their title track and promote it to sell their album. BIGBANG was asked what they planned to do.

TOP explains, “We will show one or two songs a week. We won’t do our promotional activities based on a set schedule.” G-Dragon says, “We think the fans will love this because each song has a different feel to it. We’ve prepared different concepts for each song.”

So, which song does each member like most?

Taeyang says, “Personally, I choose ‘Bad Boy.‘ It has the most hip-hop feel to it.”

Seungri says, “I choose ‘Fantastic Baby.‘ I think it is the song that has the most BIGBANG feel to it. There is a strong beat and a melody that many people will love.”

G-Dragon chose ‘Blue.‘ G-Dragon, who always liked slow songs, explained, “The song goes well with this season. Blue is filled with the emotional lyrics that all of you have been craving for.”

When asked about their feelings in making this long awaited comeback, BIGBANG leader G-Dragon gave an answer. He says, “This concert is like our first broadcast stage. Moreso than before, we are excited to go on the new stage all together as a five-member group. Just as much as the audience is excited to see us, we feel the pressure that much more. At the same time, we are thrilled to show an upgraded BIGBANG.”